- What changed: Ripple closed the Hidden Road deal and rebranded it as Ripple Prime, the first global, multi-asset prime broker owned by a crypto firm.
- Why it matters for XRP: Prime brokerage pipes bring institutional routing, financing, and clearing into Ripple’s stack, expanding the XRP institutional use case as a bridge asset.
- RLUSD now serves as collateral across prime products; governance scored an ‘A’ at Bluechip, with BNY Mellon as primary reserve custodian—a set-up that supports risk, liquidity, and settlement at scale.
Ripple completed the acquisition of Hidden Road and is now Ripple Prime, a clean way to plug institutional-grade prime brokerage into crypto without duct tape. Prime brokerage is the quiet infrastructure that lets big players trade across desks, finance positions, and settle risk. By owning that pipeline straightaway, Ripple cut a path for XRP to move from “token you trade” to asset you use inside real financing flows.
Rekated: Ripple Labs Targets $1 Billion SPAC to Seed an XRP Treasury
What is Ripple Prime?
It’s a one-stop desk for trading, financing, clearing, and risk management across FX, digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income, the same toolkit traditional funds expect, now integrated with Ripple’s payments, custody, and stablecoin stack.
Since the deal was first flagged, the business reportedly tripled, which tells you the demand signal from institutions is real, not rhetorical.
How Ripple Prime Expands the XRP Institutional Use Case
XRP utility grows when financing and clearing touch the asset directly. Prime lines and netting agreements turn XRP from a speculative ticket into bridge liquidity between desks and venues.
Traders can fund positions, post collateral, and settle transfers without jumping rails. Such a shift deepens order-book depth, narrows basis dislocations, and supports two-way flow beyond headline moves.
Related: RippleNet Expansion Puts XRP Versus Stablecoins To The Test In Cross-Border Payments
RLUSD Becomes Productive Collateral
RLUSD enters the stack as eligible collateral for derivatives and financing inside Ripple Prime. Collateral eligibility matters because margin schedules govern how funds move during volatility.
Bluechip’s ‘A’ rating on stability, governance and asset backing, plus BNY Mellon as primary reserve custodian reduces operational hesitation for treasurers. Clear custody and disclosures give risk teams the language they need to approve balances in RLUSD and to wire funds into workflows that include XRP.
Ripple’s Expanding Acquisition Strategy
Ripple’s sequence of acquisitions – Metaco (2023) for custody, Standard Custody (2024), plus GTreasury and Rail for treasury and stablecoin payments, now culminates in Ripple Prime.
Consolidation moves Ripple from renting market plumbing to being the plumbing. Control over the pipe lets Ripple align credit, collateral, and payments so institutional activity lands on rails that favor XRP and RLUSD.
Bottom line: Ripple Prime gives institutions the toolkit they expect and puts XRP where decisions get made; inside credit, collateral, and clearing. RLUSD under BNY Mellon’s custody provides the credibility layer. If adoption compounds, the XRP bull case leans less on momentum and more on balance-sheet utility.
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Source: https://coinedition.com/xrp-bull-run-builds-as-ripple-prime-debuts-with-rlusd-custody-at-bny-mellon/
